Reactions II: Only Him
by sarahofearth
Summary: Here's the long awaited sequel to Reactions. Basically just Jordan and Shawn stuff. Recovery and power regaining. Chapter 2 now up! New characters as well. No slash!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hey, I'm back! I know I said this was going to be a one shot, but, if you remember correctly, I pondered continuing it. So, here I am! I hope I fulfill your story expectations.

_Dedicated to Queen of the Elven City _

Thanks for being my fan when I thought everybody else forgot about me. Thanks!

XxxXXXxxX

Shawn awoke from his deep and heavy slumber, groggily yawning and trying to wipe the sleep from his eyes. It seemed to him to be ages since he had such a pleasant rest. One would blame it on the fact that once you've cry as hard as he did you're body needs to wind down quicker than usual, but Shawn was positive that it had to do with the weight that was finally lifted from his mind. He didn't have to trouble himself anymore about what he was going to do about the center, what new 4400 would come around begging for money, or what Matthew would try to manipulate him into doing the next day. No, that burden was brought into the very capable hands of Mr. Jordan Collier. The healer grinned into his pillow at the thought of the manifestation of his dream. He had to pinch himself when he reflected on the older man. It was just utter madness that he would raise from the dead! Shawn knew of some weirdoes out there that worshipped his mentor, but he never considered him to be this Jesus-like.

At that moment, the entrance door of the large suite opened unveiling the tall form of Jordan. The man, clad in a soft green dress shirt and dark pinstripe suit, carried a laden tray inside, smiling down at Shawn. He walked over to the provisional cot and wordlessly set the tray down on the glass side table.

"Well, the maids here are certainly getting better clothes," Shawn joked, mirth warming his eyes.

Jordan smiled slightly and removed the cover on the tray, revealing a steaming bowl of brownish soup with deformed lumps in it. At least, that's what Shawn thought it resembled.

"I thought you might be hungry," Jordan said cheerfully.

"So you brought me the heated juice and spare sludge from the garbage disposal?" he asked, staring disgustedly at the bowl on the tray. "Surely the center hasn't gotten so messed up that they don't have any edible food."

Jordan smiled again.

"The center isn't messed up, Shawn." The older man replied. "And you need to eat. You look so skinny, when was the last time you actually digested something?"

Shawn's eyes cast downward as the memories of his constant vomiting flooded his brain. The moment he got anything down his throat these past few weeks was immediately brought up with much gagging and shuddering Shawn might add.

The young man looked up into Jordan's eyes. The entire time the resurrected man had been back he held that furtively concerned look in his eye that gave Shawn a bizarre feeling on his insides. The feeling seemed to be a cross between happiness that Jordan was actually there giving him looks and speculation because the young man wasn't certain what the older man meant by them. Shawn smiled.

"You sound like my grandma." He pointed out, chuckling softly as to not disturb his still aching body.

Jordan's concerned look flickered when he heard the reply. He was beginning to grow impatient with Shawn's repartee.

"I will repeat my question," Jordan warned. "When was the last time you _digested _something?"

The same guilty look crossed the younger man's face.

"I don't remember," Shawn finally admitted quietly. "I've either barfed up the whole meal or I haven't had enough strength to even get to it."

Jordan sighed. It was no wonder he was so thin.

"That's a perfect explanation why you should be eating this, even if it isn't the most appetizing of sorts…" Jordan replied, lifting the tray and setting it in front of Shawn. "As far as your upset stomach goes, I know where some soothing complex is, I'll just ask some one to get it." With that, he exited through the heavy door, leaving Shawn to his dealing.

The young man stared after Jordan, wondering if he was supposed to eat then take the pill or vice-versa. A small growl from his stomach seemed to like the former. Shawn apprehensively picked up the spoon to his right and took a few quick intakes of breaths before dipping the spoon into the thick liquid. He sipped at the soup, it wasn't too bad, and it wasn't as dreadful as the last soup one of the girls brought up. It could use some salt though, and lemon, Shawn liked lemon with-before Shawn could appraise the soup further, a grumbling from his stomach erupted. _Oh crap, why is food always trying to murder my insides? _The all-too familiar vomit pressed and pushed to escape the confines of the young man's mouth. Shawn fought it for as long as he could but when a third fierce gag came up so did his short-lived lunch. After retching to his side for a few more minutes, Shawn opened his eyes calmly; he then shuddered harshly at the muddle before him. The vomit lay in a runny, chunky mess on the beige carpet. Right then, Shawn didn't care if the president saw the stuff, that last heaving cost him the rest of his strength. The young man fell back into his pillows and gradually faded into darkness.

XxxXXXxxX

The gloom steadily paled into the midday sun as Shawn began to regain consciousness. Who wouldn't be waking up at that booming voice, constantly calling his god-forsaken name? It was only moments later that Shawn realized that it was Jordan's voice, anxious and bothered, rudely waking him from his pleasant slumber.

The young man blearily opened his eyes, only to have them burned by the intensely bright glow of the room. Shawn quickly and tightly closed his eyes, hiding them in the comfortable embrace of his pillows.

"Are you alright, Shawn?" Jordan asked, forcing the young man's head to face him and unpeeling his forcefully closed eyelid.

"Ahhh," Shawn responded, hurriedly placing his head back into the cushion.

"No, dilation, I suppose you fine." Jordan muttered mechanically. With that, he walked away to retrieve the pills he had dropped before upon seeing Shawn's sprawled body and vomit on the floor.

"Kasey, I need a clean up to the master suite right away," The older man said into an intercom set on the wall. "Thank you."

Jordan ambled over to where Shawn was, lounging on the long couch, breathing heavily.

He handed the healer the pills and a glass of water. He took the pills and cup in trembling hands, before swallowing.

"Thanks," he replied instinctively, collapsing back into the bed.

There was a silence. Shawn lounged quietly on the sofa, eyes closed, panting. Jordan studied him with a light worried expression, reflecting.

"Let's go for a walk," Jordan said resolutely, breaking the silence.

Shawn peaked open an eye, staring warily at Jordan. He cleared his throat.

"Have you given any thought to my current condition?" he asked, fully closing his eyes once again, his only thoughts being on his erratic breathing and the crazy older man.

"I just think it would be… nice, don't you?" A hopeful look was in his eyes. "I assume you must have been cooped up in this room for some time. You must have at least a slight case of cabin fever."

"I only stay in here because it's the sensible thing for my getting better. Nobody's forcing me." Shawn defended weakly. "I-"

"Even so, some fresh air would be a nice change." Jordan interrupted, walking towards the entrance, deliberately ignoring the younger man's protests. "It'll give some time for that complex to kick in, and then you can eat something for a change…"

"But I-" the door snapped shut, leaving behind a very peeved Shawn.

XxxXXXxxX

"Ah, this is nice," Jordan stated, pushing effortlessly a wheelchair which held a grumpy looking Shawn. They strolled casually through the many pathways of the center's garden, the older man admiring the scenery. "It takes only a few flowers to take all my worries away."

Shawn rolled his eyes and went back to looking sullen. He wanted to go to bed or eat something. Being pushed around in a garden was not in the arrangement. Sure, he was happy that Jordan was back, overjoyed actually, but if anything got in his way between his beloved sleep and precious food they became his mortal enemies.

He placed his arm on the side rest and eased his head into his hand. If he couldn't sleep inside he might as well do it here.

"So, what's been going while I've been gone?" Jordan asked, alerting Shawn out of his doze.

Shawn groaned but kept quiet. He wasn't going to answer him, he was tired and ailing ergo he had every right not to.

"Please, Shawn, grow up and answer me?" Jordan said, still unceremoniously pushing the wheelchair.

Shawn glared up at the man who continued not to notice.

"Don't you have 'people' who fill you in on that kind of stuff?" Shawn mumbled.

"I do," Jordan nodded. "But none that I trust more than you,"

Shawn sighed. Lay on the guilt then, why don't you?

"There's been a lot of buzz about who your killer is," Shawn said, picking at the chair's armrest.

"You mean they never found out who it was?"

_Oh crap, I forgot… Why am I always the one to open their big mouths? _

"Well-that is…" Shawn stuttered. He was at a loss for words. If he told Jordan that it was Kyle, his own cousin, he didn't know how he would react. He would be finding out eventually, but did Shawn really want to be there when that happened? Shawn's brain contemplated over more baffling questions.

The young man hadn't even noticed that Jordan had stopped his pushing of the chair and was now humming a soft tune, picking out an attractive lily from a nearby shrub.

Shawn looked up in surprise, actually mustering up the courage to dictate what he knew to the older man.

"It's okay," Jordan said, causing Shawn's last bit of audacity to flicker from his eyes. "I'm sure when the time comes for me to hear about it, I'll hear about it. It won't be from you." He finished, patting the healer's shoulder.

Shawn let out the breath he hadn't known he was holding and smiled gratefully.

Jordan looked at his watch.

"Okay, I suppose we've wasted enough time picking at the plants. Let's go get something to eat, shall we?" Jordan said, turning the chair in the opposite direction.

"I know this may not be fair since I couldn't answer yours, but I have a question for you…" Shawn said, breaking the once soothing silence.

"Okay."

"What do you know exactly so far?" a beat, "I-I'm just curious, I guess…"

Jordan played with a thoughtful expression on his face.

"Well, I know Matthew has been helping you somewhat, as I had originally asked him too… I know I died and my return here is being highly buzzed about, and I know there are close to a hundred people probably taking a picture of me at this very moment."

He smiled smugly.

Shawn scowled, that wasn't the answer he was looking for…

"Nah, ah, ah, Shawn." Jordan chastised at the young man's look. "I don't think that face would look good on tomorrow's cover of the National Enquirer, now would it?"

He rolled his eyes but laughed a little as they made their way inside the center.

XxxXXXxxX

After a wholly filling lunch, the two 4400's made their way back to the suite. Shawn's eyelids felt so heavy. He thought he was tired before, but after such a substantial meal, he felt he could fall anywhere and be totally at peace in slumber. It was a good thing he was in a wheelchair because there was no doubt Shawn would eventually have to be dragged into the room by Jordan.

Jordan wheeled Shawn inside the large room and then walked over to his office to the kitchen answering machine to check his messages.

"I expect you can walk the rest of the way to your bed." He yelled behind his shoulder.

Shawn groaned. Did crawling count? Shawn got out of the chair on unsteady legs, slowly making his way to the makeshift bed he had gotten used to sleeping in.

He collapsed onto the sofa. God he had never been so tired in his life. He closed his eyes and listened to the peaceful silence of the room.

Beeeep "Hi Jordan," the voice of Matthew filled the serene hush. Shawn groaned. He heard enough of that voice through the week; did that man have to haunt him in his dreams too? "This is Ross. Did I tell you how great it is your back?"

Jordan droned out the annoying voice for a moment. He was listening with an even expression on his face in the comfort of his recliner.

"I'm sure you're _so_ happy, Matthew…" Jordan mumbled sarcastically, knowing that his hired helper was as power hungry as a geek with no batteries for his electronics.

"I need to ask you something though," Here it comes… "As you can see by the big mob of rabid extremists and curious citizens just outside your window, we'll have to give these people something soon. I set up a live press conference for you tonight, CNN, CSPAN, blah, blah, blah, they're all going to be there. Anyway, it's starts at 6pm. Have a speech ready by then; we'll be answering questions afterwards. Okay, gotta run. The designers just came in. Thanks a lot, 'bye." Beeeep "No new messages"

Jordan closed his eyes and sighed. Well, he'd only been back for a day and he already had his work cut out for him. He glanced at the clock. 5:13. He had to write a moving speech about his resurrection in less than thirty minutes. This could be a little difficult.

He turned his head to where Shawn was; the young man had his eyes open and was staring at his worriedly. He sat up with some difficulty, and asked:

"What are you going to do?"

Jordan shrugged.

"I guess start writing it."

Shawn shook his head and smiled.

"Matthew is such a-"

"Shawn…" Jordan warned.

"What? He is." The young man defended.

Jordan gave a frowny-looking smile and walked over to his office.

"You look tired." The older man said before closing the door.

"Way to point out the obvious…" Shawn mumbled. With that he fell back into his bed, falling into a much-needed sleep the moment his head hit the pillows.

XxxXXXxxX

"Shawn… Shawn, wake up," the young man reluctantly complied with the voice and gained his consciousness. He blinked his eyes at the ceiling until most of the bleariness receded. He turned his head to see Jordan straightening his tie and smoothing down his dark blue suit.

"You look good," Shawn said groggily. "What time is it?"

"6:10" Jordan said casually.

This quickly caught Shawn's attention.

"Six ten? As in PM?"

"I don't recall letting you sleep almost thirteen hours…"

"Aren't you late for the big press conference though? You can't just postpone something like that!" Shawn was sitting up now, getting agitated.

"Calm down, Shawn." Jordan replied consistently. "I'm just going to be a bit late, I already informed Matthew, he's working it out. But I need to leave now are there may be some problems. I'm off."

Shawn was just about to lie back into his bed when it suddenly hit him.

"Wait, aren't I coming too?" Shawn asked puzzled.

Jordan swiftly placed a hand on the young man's forehead.

"Nope," he said, removing it and picking up his portfolio from the side table.

"But when am I ever going to see an event like this again?" Shawn said persistently.

"With TiVo, like the other millions of people," Jordan said, turning around from placing his hand on the doorknob.

"But-"

"Make sure you ask Casey for an Advil for that fever," Jordan said just as the door clicked close.

Shawn looked in disappointment at the door but he quickly got over it and beamed. Even though he was missing a monumental speech, he was happy knowing that it was about the man he missed so dearly before. Shawn really was the luckiest person in the world. Nobody could ever wish so much for a person to rise from the dead and actually have it happen. This type of stuff only happened in fairy tales. Shawn thanked the 4400 gods for this once in a lifetime gift. Without those gods, he would probably never even know who the man downstairs was.

Shawn unsteadily got to his feet and walked shakily to the living room couch. He grabbed the remote and turned on the flat screen before him. The glowing screen came to life before him as he flipped through the channels. He landed on the channel with the broadcast on it, and got comfortable.

A faint roar of applause made their way to Shawn. It was coming from underneath Shawn so he assumed the meeting was starting. A few moments later the same thing was heard on the screen of the television as Mr. Jordan Collier entered the scene.

Shawn smiled at the screen and switched off the television. He was sure Jordan would tell him about it when he was done. Shawn would have to tell him a few things himself sooner or later. For now he was content just knowing Jordan was there. Unless somebody pulled a stunt like possessed-Kyle's again.

That thought in mind, Shawn quickly switched on the TV, watching the man on the stage like a hawk. Jordan would still have to tell him what he said in that speech that night because the young man upstairs was too preoccupied with scrutinizing the screen.

A/N: My sister's rushing me so I'm just going to say, leave a review! If you want me to update you'll have to give me ideas, my idea well has run dry at the moment… Thank you!


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Well, it's been affirmed, this whole story will never come true. I'm a spoiler addict and I've read almost anything I can get my hands on and the plans for Jordan in the next season are not coming close to what I had hoped for. sighs Oh well. That's what fan fiction is for I suppose. To write what the writers forgot yay!

_To Kennis, my number one fan. Thanks for all the ideas. They filled much more than a centimeter of the well!_

XxXXXxxXXXxX

Jordan entered the room, shrugged off his suit jacket and loosened his tie. He examined his familiar suite to see Shawn resting on the cushioned, tan couch. He walked over and smiled at him. He had improved a lot since the man had last studied him in his sleep, the stroll they had earlier that day brought some color back into the young man's olive complexion. He noticed Shawn's eyes still had some dark rings underneath them. He also spotted a small smile creeping onto the younger man's face.

"Stop staring at me, it's weird." Shawn said, opening his dark eyes to face the deep brown ones.

"Sorry, I thought you were-" Jordan paused. "Why aren't you actually sleeping?" he asked, accusation threaded in his voice.

Shawn smiled his guilty smile from the center of the couch. He seemed to be making that hot, gorgeous, totally adorable (A/N: .:apologizes:. I just had to add that) grin a lot lately.

"I was sorta staying up to make sure things went well?" Shawn said, staring up to see a reaction. Jordan made that concerned expression and sat down on the couch, scooting Shawn's legs over.

"Ah great, he's in that lecture position" the younger man thought exasperatedly as he noted the hunched form and folded hands of his elder.

"Are you worried about something?" Jordan questioned, turning to Shawn. The healer fidgeted under his stare. Sure, he was worried about a lot of things: artichokes (for the obvious reason), heights, the local killer assassinating his newly resurrected father figure maybe?

"Just wanted to make sure there weren't any," he cleared his throat and wrinkled his eyebrows, "technical problems, you know, with the sound and stuff?"

Jordan nodded.

"You mean to tell me you wasted your precious and valuable sleeping time, which you very well needed, for the _sound_?" he asked, eyebrows rose slightly.

The man knew him too well... Okay, maybe it didn't exactly take a psychologist to tell that Shawn's story was a fake.

"Maybe I'm a little afraid that the same person who killed you will come back to finish you the job." Shawn said uncertainly, picking at a loose thread on the sleeve of his red sweater.

Jordan sighed; he figured that was the case, he just needed Shawn to stop beating around the bush making up lies about sound defects. The boy was sometimes a very hard shell to crack but once you got through, it was an overflow of pent-up emotions.

"Shawn, I don't ever want you to think that way. I'm going to be all right. I'm sure whoever brought me back, has a different kind of plan for me than to just die again… Unless the persons that we're dealing with are very sick, then we might have a problem." He joked casually, but Shawn thought differently as a new wave of thought hit him.

The older man sighed once again.

"You need to stop thinking so hard, Shawn, nothing is going to happen. That last bit was a joke, the aliens or whatever the people who took us may be, are not sick. Okay?" Jordan said.

Shawn looked up and nodded.

Jordan smiled and got up from his position. Midway through leaving Shawn called out.

"I know who your killer is." He said. Jordan turned around suddenly, raised an eyebrow, and sat back down on the couch. The younger man had traces of nervousness and apprehension on his countenance. Should he tell him? What's the harm? Maybe it's the wrong thing to say. God, Shawn, why do you have such a big mouth?

"Mind sharing?" Jordan asked gently, breaking the inner argument Shawn was having about telling him who his murderer really was.

"It's Kyle, my cousin, the one that came here one time trying to see me." Shawn blurted out suddenly.

Jordan took it all in. A large number of thoughts crossed his mind but the younger man's voice halted them for the time being.

"He was possessed by something, something that made him black out and do stuff he didn't even remember." Again, a whole new flow of thoughts swam through Jordan's head. "But I healed him of it, that's why I'm so tired and sick."

The older man took it all in, it was so mind-boggling.

"Well, I'm not tired just because of de-possessing Kyle," Shawn continued. "There was also an epidemic…"

"I know about that." Jordan interrupted, still intent on swallowing the thing that possessed his cousin.

Shawn looked up surprised.

"What? How?" he asked quickly.

"Like you said earlier today, I have people who fill me in on that stuff." Jordan explained evenly.

"Yeah, but you said I was the only one who you trusted about that explaining stuff." Shawn defended, forgetting all about his last, major revealing.

"At that moment though, you were being childishly stubborn and I was being overly curious so I had to ask some one about how you got into the condition you were in."

"Oh." Shawn replied bitterly.

"It doesn't mean I don't trust you any less, Shawn." Jordan pointed out. "It just means that you should grow up some days and tell people what they need to know."

Shawn mumbled something about snobby businessmen but it was incoherent to the older man.

"_Anyways_," Jordan said, redirecting the unrelated conversation. "I needed to know, that epidemic going around sounded like serious business from what I hear from the medical staff. I'm overjoyed that you haven't been given any serious damage."

The part of Shawn's mind that always seemed to point out the wrongs whispered softly, _Not yet._

Jordan looked around the room for a moment before landing his eyes on the clock. He whistled low.

"It is way too late for me right now and it is especially too late for you, Shawn," Jordan said pointedly, narrowing his eyes at the younger man. "You will not choose saving every living soul over your health again. You saved enough people in one week, you need to relax, understand?"

Shawn nodded sleepily. Noticing the time the Jordan had whistled at brought on the loads of weight on his eyelids.

"We can talk more in the morning but only until I think you look rested enough." Jordan instructed, making his way to his master bedroom. "Goodnight, Shawn."

"G'night." The younger man replied softly, finally falling into a deep slumber.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

Shawn opened his eyes to the bright morning light inflowing through the window to his right. He sat up and blinked, trying to focus his vision to the pile of magazines on the coffee table. Jordan had newspapers and magazines sent to the room to catch up on current event. Being gone for as long as he had been meant losing out on all the modern affairs.

One tabloid caught his attention in particular. The In Touch magazine had a picture of a very handsome Jordan on it with bold, yellow lettering titled "Back from the dead for his heir? pg.76"

Shawn immediately picked up the publication and flipped through the glossy pages until he found the correct sheet. On the front of the article was a fuzzy picture of the stroll Shawn and Jordan had gone on yesterday, wheelchair and all. Shawn stared incredulously at the picture. Sure, he had _ple-henty_ of pictures taken by those prying paparazzi, but this time it felt more violating than usual. The young man told himself mentally that it was because he was in a wheelchair and he didn't want people to see him looking so vulnerable, but in the very back of his head he knew it had something to do with the man in the next room.

He skimmed through the editorial, knowing what he would find would probably be phony. Nobody truly knew what was going on except for him. Shawn had watched Jordan's whole, three-hour long dialogue and found it surprisingly vague. He was happy for the indistinctiveness though, allowing the _real_ truth into those people's grimy hands was risky business.

Shawn rubbed his head, sometimes it was frustrating becoming famous so quickly. Not two years ago he remembered looking at these same magazines in the checkout lines, a couple of times he even flipped through them (not to drool over any hot girls of course, heh, heh…). He would never have guessed in any amount of years that he would be on that same publication because he was abducted and given healing powers. Yes, he was sure he'd escort anybody to an insane asylum if they had told him that.

The door to the left of him opened suddenly. Shawn turned his head to see Jordan walking out of it, wearing a soft purple dress shirt and his tan dress pants, he had his head buried in forms Shawn guessed must have been important. God, he was so happy that he didn't have to deal with all that stress and paperwork. He couldn't fathom how Jordan did it all with such ease. He supposed being in the realty business for so long, one would eventually acquire the skill.

Jordan looked up and spotted Shawn staring at him.

"You're up early." He said, bringing his attention back to his papers while simultaneously walking toward the suite's kitchen.

"They should put better blinds or some curtains in here. This room gets too bright for its own good." Shawn said, squinting his eyes in the light.

"I like the light; it makes things a lot less lifeless and dreary." Jordan said, pulling out a bottle of orange juice. "How are you feeling?"

"Better." Shawn said. He really was. He was able to sit up now, and that was progress, right?

"Do you think you would be able to accompany me to the NTAC offices? The agents there have some questions and I need a witness of some sort. It would be appreciated."

"Err…" Shawn said. He would actually love to go, he was getting a big case of cabin fever with this illness but his stomach never seemed to allow it. "I suppose."

Jordan walked over to the young man and felt his forehead. He was warm still but he did appear better. "Can you walk?"

Shawn sat up and slid his feet onto the carpet. He took a deep breath and took a hold of Jordan's offered hand. Jordan hauled him up onto shaky legs. Shawn stood there for a second and looked up, immediately an enormous wave of nausea took over him and he heaved up most likely all of the contents that were in his stomach onto the floor.

Shawn kneeled on the carpet, breathing heavily, vomit dripping from his mouth. Jordan stared at him with immense concern.

"I guess that's-" Shawn said between large breaths, "-a no on the walking question."

Jordan helped him to lie back on the couch. He picked up the phone to order some room service to clean up the mess and send up some stomach medicine.

"They should be here in a minute," Jordan told Shawn as he laid a damp cloth on the young man's head. "You really should take it easy, get some rest."

Shawn groaned.

"That's all I ever do but every time I even try to get up my stomach feels all ruptured and I barf up everything."

"It's just a flu, it should be gone soon if you don't push yourself like last night." Jordan reassured.

Shawn groaned once again. This sucked. He felt fine just minutes ago and now he felt like crap all over again. Maybe he was cursed, or the people who took him planted something in him that only gave him bad luck. _If you really had the worst luck in the world, Jordan would still be dead. Do you know how many people would literally kill themselves to bring somebody back?_ The voice of reason was starting to get really annoying….

"I really need to get to NTAC; I'm already late as it is." Jordan explained, looking for his briefcase.

"Don't you still need a witness thing though?" Shawn asked.

"I'll just ask one of the third keys to accompany me," Jordan called from his bedroom.

"There's no chance of postponing it then?" Shawn asked. He actually didn't want Jordan to leave. It was inevitable that one would feel lonely when they had to stay in bed all day "resting" (more like feigning sleep when some one entered the room then staring at the ceiling).

Jordan smoothed out his suit jacket he had finished putting on.

"You know the government. They never wait for anybody; they like to be in charge. NTAC gets what NTAC wants." Jordan sighed. He felt a little guilty for leaving Shawn by himself but also knew full well that NTAC was not a trifling matter. It was either their way or the highway and Jordan was sure that the young man realized that.

The front door opened and two maids clad in light blue dresses entered with cleaning supplies and an orange pill bottle.

"Hello, Mr. Collier," the maid said nervously. "I thought you left."

Jordan shook his head reassuringly.

"Just on my way out actually. The mess is right here. I'm very sorry to pester you about it." Jordan said motioning toward the front of Shawn's couch.

"Oh no, it's no trouble at all." The first maid said taking out a rag and wiping up the mess. "Would you like to give Mr. Farrell his medicine now?"

"No, not yet. Could you please ask room service to bring some breakfast up?"

"Sure," she replied, picking up the phone.

Jordan walked over to Shawn and kneeled to his eye level.

"I'll try to be back soon, but most likely this meeting will last until early into the evening." Jordan said softly.

"Okay, sure." Shawn said, evidently getting depressed.

"Just try to keep yourself busy. We do have every channel known to existence up here," Jordan pointed out, causing Shawn to smile. "Stay out of trouble and get well soon, okay?"

Shawn nodded and Jordan exited the room. The young man sighed; he just knew this day was going to be dull.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

Jordan made his way down the stairs into the lobby of the exit. He strolled to a desk belonging to one of the secretaries there.

"Hello, Katherine," The secretary looked up in surprise from the laptop at the sound of her boss's boss's voice. "I need a third key to accompany me on my visit to NTAC. Do we have any available that have been around say… since my death?" It still felt weird saying such a thing to the man.

The secretary nodded and smiled, looking down to tap something into her laptop.

"Why yes, a Miss Liv had just become a first key on that day, would she be helpful?" she asked.

"Sure, bring her down, I'll be waiting in my limo out front. Thank you, Katherine"

"Sure."

XxXXXxxXXXxX

Liv walked nervously toward the exit of the center. She spotted the black limo out front, a driver positioned at the passenger back door. Oh, this was so nerve-wracking. She had never even met the man before and she was supposed to be the witness at his questioning. She couldn't believe she was replaced Shawn in this whole thing. He knew the resurrected businessman a million times better than anybody did, much less her. Oh, why couldn't Shawn have waited to give her that necklace one more day later?

She finally arrived at the black limo. The driver smiled at her and opened the door. She took a deep breath before entering and sliding onto the smooth, black leather seat. Jordan sat on the other side of her, talking on the phone. Yes, somebody up there must love her. The phone would surely keep her from having any uncomfortable small talk with the probably stuffy guru.

Jordan suddenly snapped the razor phone closed. Darn, there went her lifeline. She sighed, causing Jordan to notice her for the first time. She mentally cursed herself for that action. She could've been perfectly invisible if she hadn't done that!

"Oh, hello there," he said kindly. "I'm sorry I was tied up on the phone before. You must be Liv. I'm glad you agreed to come with me." She had to, didn't she?

"No problem," she replied equally kindly. "So, we're going to a questioning?"

"Yes, ma'am. It's just procedure, I suppose. When somebody comes back from the dead you have to be talked to about it. To be honest, I haven't the foggiest idea what happened while I was gone." Jordan said, smiling slightly.

Liv smiled. This guy wasn't so bad. She had this picture of being grumpy and nasty, kind of like she was when she first met Shawn.

"So, have you happened to meet Shawn?" Jordan asked after a momentary pause of silence. "He's about your age, tall."

"Um, yeah, he was actually the guy who made me first key." She said, uncomfortably. She wished Shawn were here to explain this sort of thing to him and not her. She wasn't exactly fond of her past and explaining where she'd been. "I was a mess before coming here, and Shawn took me out of it, saved me, by giving me job here."

Jordan smiled. That was sounded a lot like the young man. He always tried to help those in need. The people who took him had given him the perfect ability, one that would help save many.

"Where were you before this job then, if it's not to prying." Jordan asked, he was quite interested about their relationship.

"No where really. I was, how should I put this, a bum. I lived not two blocks from here under the bridge with my friends." She told him. This conversation was edgy, but Liv always managed to keep a calm face.

A light of realization dawned on Jordan's face.

"You were those people that Shawn was trying to help that one night. The ones that tried to use his healing power for all those other sick and poor people." He said slowly, looking up at the ending of his sentence.

Okay, now she was panicky. She knew he would be angry at her for taking advantage of his golden boy. Crap.

"You don't understand. I didn't know much about his ability at the time. I just wanted my friends to be out of there misery, you should of heard them crying out in pain. I had no money for the emergency room, so Shawn was the next best thing." She was breathing heavily now, tears brimming in her eyes, it was all true.

"I understand." Jordan said in his usual calm voice.

She looked up from her weeping.

"You do?"

"Yes. If I were in your position, I would've done the same thing. I know if I asked Shawn, he would've admitted to the same act. You're not in the wrong, Liv. I'm sorry if it sounded like I accused you."

Liv wiped her eyes. This guy was really all right. She liked to hear his comforting voice, it soothed her, but not as much as Shawn's voice. That voice was from the angels, she said once to herself.

"Thank you." She said meekly.

"Of course." Jordan replied, smiling slightly.

They arrived at the NTAC offices a few minutes later. The limo drew up to the front and the driver hopped out to open the side passenger door.

"Are you ready?" Jordan said, as Liv got out of the car.

"As much as I'll ever be." she replied.

They walked side by side into the office and were soon seated minutes later in the chambers of Agents Tom and Diana.

"I know what you're going to say, 'I told you so' right?" Jordan said kind-heartedly, settling himself on the hard chair in the questioning room.

"We don't like to rub that type of stuff in people's faces," Diana said with a smile. "So, how are you doing physically, mentally, and emotionally?"

"Wow, we just get right to the point," Jordan said, with a slight laugh.

"This is a questioning room." Tom snapped. The agent wasn't in the best of moods today. And he blamed the man sitting across from him.

"Somebody certainly is grumpy," Jordan replied at the spite of the agent.

"Yes, well, ever since you showed up, people feel it's some how our faults and we've been receiving any and all kinds of questions about your little resurrection." Tom said incitingly.

"Well, I apologize for coming back from the dead them, but, I'll have you know, it wasn't exactly my choice." Jordan said strongly.

"It's not like you care anyway what we're going through over here," Tom continued, ignoring the man's last comment, and looking Jordan square in the eye. "You just think NTAC is filth that will mess up all your plans, all your private plans. You know, the center could've been on its way to something great with Shawn as the head, but now you're back, screwing everything up!"

"Agent Baldwin," Liv said, making the two men who were staring daggers at each other finally notice she was in the room. "That's where you're wrong. Jordan is doing a lot to get the center back on track. Shawn really wasn't ready for all that control. He couldn't handle it, I saw him in the office sometimes, crying at the amount of work put on his shoulders. He was a mess, but, now that Jordan's back, all this weight has been taken off of him. He's back to his old self again, the old self that wasn't always grieving secretly and growing hard. Mr. Collier is really taking the center to immense degrees, whether you can see it or not, it's happening."

There was a silence in the room. Tom looked a bit ashamed. He wished he knew what his nephew was going through, but such a wish was near impossible with the tight security control in the center. He had never thought much about Shawn's emotional state. All of these events had happened so fast for a man so young. Heck, Tom didn't even think he'd be able to take such control of a huge corporation without cracking sometimes, and he was big and strong Baldwin. Tom sighed. He wanted to see Shawn, but with all the things that were happening, he knew that would be just as impossible as his first wish.

"You want to see him don't you?" Jordan said after a deep silence had filled the room. "I can see it in your eyes, you're worried about him."

Tom looked up in surprise. This guy was a successful businessman as well as a psychiatrist too?

"Yeah, I would." Tom admitted after staring at Jordan in amazement for a little while.

"After we finish this questioning, would you like to escort me back to the center?" Jordan asked.

"Sure." Tom answered. This had to be a dream. Since when did Jordan become Mr. Nice Guy? Maybe Tom was wrong about the man. Maybe there was something in him that Shawn saw that Tom didn't. He had never considered that he was judging Jordan on all the times he had met him before. Such times weren't exactly friendly, more like… hostile. The agent supposed he should try to be a bit less hypercritical in the future.

"Now that that's over with," Diana said with a sigh. "Can you answer the first question?"

"Of course. This is a questioning, is it not?"

XxXXXxxXXXxX

"How is Shawn anyway?" Tom asked, keeping his eyes on the road. Collier and Baldwin decided to take the agent's car to talk things over a bit before entering the center. It was six in the evening now and the questioning was, to everybody's immense relief, completed.

"He's a bit on the ill side, as is such the case when you heal as many people as he did." Jordan said. Tom gave him a worried glance. "He's alright, it's just a stomach flu, it shouldn't be blown up into something big. If he's done what I've told him to do, he should be fine."

"That's good," Tom said in relief. "Has he mentioned anything about me?"

Jordan thought for a moment. In all truth, Jordan and Shawn hadn't shared much about his family life. He didn't know if Shawn was even talking to his mom and brother still or if he'd made amends.

"Let's just say, I might need as much 'catching up' to do as you do." Jordan said in conclusiveness.

Tom nodded knowingly and took a turn down the familiar avenue to the 4400 canter.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

"Just through this door, let's keep quiet in case he's resting." Jordan said, walking towards a door at the end of the hall. He opened the heavy door with his key and ushered the agent in.

Jordan turned on the light as Tom made his was over to the sleeping form on the couch.

Tom sat on the chair facing the makeshift bed and smiled. Shawn looked much younger and peaceful in his sleep.

Jordan joined him behind the couch, above Shawn's head. He raked his fingers gently through the younger man's blonde hair, causing Shawn to stir.

"Ten more minutes, Jordan. I'm tired." He murmured in his sleep, turning his head opposite of where the touch came from.

"That's new," Tom said, affecting Shawn to open his eyes blearily at the familiar yet unfamiliar voice. "Jordan told me you hadn't been sleeping too well lately."

Shawn stared in confusion at the face before him.

"Uncle Tommy? What are you doing here?" Shawn asked, his voice raspy and full of weariness.

"I'll get you some water," Jordan said, leaving them in privacy for a moment.

"I came by to see what's going on with you," Tom said quietly so only Shawn could hear him. "I haven't heard from you in ages. The last I saw you was at quarantine, but that was a little smile and wave. I just wanted to come here and say…. I've been thinking about you, Shawn."

Shawn smiled tiredly.

"I've been thinking about you too, Uncle Tommy." Shawn said. "I'm sorry things have been so antagonistic between us, I didn't want them to be, but I had no choice sometimes…"

There was a silence as each of the males tried to put their heads around what each other had said. Tom broke it with a smile as he pulled up Shawn from his lying position and hugged him roughly. Shawn hugged back once he got over the surprise. Shawn didn't think Uncle Tommy had it in him. The man was always so gruff and sharp, especially towards Shawn, the "corrupter" of his innocent son. They were family though, Shawn pointed out, and family had to learn to look past things once in awhile. They held each other for a little longer before letting go. Tom stared at Shawn square in the eyes for a moment.

"I'm sorry," Tom said softly.

"For what?" Right then Shawn wasn't thinking straight. He was tired and all he could see was the blameless Uncle Tommy before him. Shawn could hear and see everything bad about some one yet still adore them; it was an attribute that got him in trouble many times before.

"What do you mean, 'for what'?" Tom asked incredulously. "For being cold to you about your mother and brother. I know you weren't comfortable with seeing them and I was just trying to push you into something again. I'm sorry about NTAC, but most of the time, they aren't in my control, but I do apologize for one thing most of all…"

Shawn gave him a confused expression. Wasn't that all he needed to apologize for? Shawn tried to think hard for something else but nothing was coming to mind. His stress and workload wasn't his Uncle Tommy's problem, so what else could there be?

"I'm sorry for talking all this crap about you, Shawn." Oh, Shawn realized, something he couldn't see. "I didn't know what you were going through. I hated that you tried to hide things from me and that you were acting like a jerk to your family and to NTAC, but, again, I didn't take the time to study what exactly you were going through. But most importantly, I'm sorry I called you a fool (among other things) for trusting in Jordan. I assumed he would corrupt you with crazy thoughts and other crap, but, of course, I didn't take the time to analyze the man. It's been weird for me today; I'm finally realizing how hypercritical I've been. I promise I'll take the time to judge people rightly, as a good lesson learned from you, Shawn. Again, I'm so sorry."

Shawn sat there stunned. This couldn't be the Uncle Tommy he knew, somehow he changed. Maybe it was from that new wife he had heard about or maybe it was his Uncle's mid-life crisis. Either way, Shawn was very happy that his uncle apologized. Shawn didn't think there were any more loads to be taken off his shoulder but he felt something in side his depart, maybe it was the stick up his butt? (A/N: That's for you, Kennis!)

Shawn quickly hugged his uncle again. God this felt weird, Shawn thought. Although this man he had in his arms was family, he had always felt him as some sort of mean stranger most of his childhood. There were times when his uncle could be nice, but, lately, Shawn had felt such a distance between them, he might as well have become that stranger and Shawn wouldn't even give a second glance.

Tom pulled out of the embrace first. He was glad he was reconciled with the young man. In truth, he had missed him a lot. Nobody would know it, not even Shawn, but he had indeed missed him.

Jordan stepped back into the room, carrying a glass of water.

"Are we done now?" Jordan asked kindly.

Tom nodded while staring at Shawn.

"Yeah." He stood up as Shawn lay down again. Tom turned to face Jordan and shook his hand. "Thank you for letting me see him."

"Anytime," Jordan replied, returning the handshake before handing Shawn the glass. Shawn took the proffered drink and gulped it down. "You can get beck to bed, Shawn, I'm just going to walk Tom out."

Shawn nodded and Tom and Jordan exited the room shortly after.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

"So he _has_ settled things with his family." Jordan said after hearing the news from Tom. They were heading towards the exit of the center and Jordan had to ask the question out of much building curiosity. Jordan was glad actually. Although he was the one who told Shawn to break all former ties, he was glad that the young man persisted. He wouldn't make it very far in the business world, but Shawn would be a very noble man.

"Yeah, they've straightened out a lot of loose ends. His mother is very happy." Tom explained. They arrived at the exit and the two shook hands again, saying their farewells.

Jordan made his way back up the stairs to his suite before starting his paperwork load back in his office.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

Shawn was up earlier than usual, he could tell because it was still very much nighttime. He wasn't surprised since he had decided to roll in to bed at the ripe time of five in the evening. He checked a clock on the table beside him to see that it was only three in the morning. He groaned, he wasn't the least bit tired but there wasn't much to do at the moment _except_ for sleep (like the rest of the world). Shawn opened his eyes and saw a light coming from Jordan's office. _That guy needs to learn when to take a break. _Shawn wanted to go in there and see what the man was up to but he wasn't sure if his stomach would allow it.

The young man sat there for a moment, staring at the door. _Oh, screw this! _Shawn was getting angry just looking at the door and doing nothing. He was growing curious even though he knew he would just find Jordan in there, typing away on his silver laptop. He slid two feet on the floor and, with much support from the side of the couch, Shawn heaved himself up. The young man's stomach gave quite a rumble, but Shawn whispered cuss words at it and, miraculously, it stopped. _Huh, I should curse my stomach more often… _

Shawn stood there, half trying to get used to his legs (which felt like jello, with all their shaking), and half trying to get over the swimming that was going on inside his head. A good five minutes later, Shawn actually felt fairly normal. He took a step towards the door with the light emanating from the cracks and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't immediately crash to the ground.

A few more difficult steps toward the door and Shawn felt another strong rumble coming from his stomach, not even the silent cuss words were helping this time though. Shawn just clenched his jaw closed very tightly, swallowing spits of sour vomit already making its way up his throat. Shawn made a face at the taste but pressed on to arrive at the door.

A few more steps Shawn would be there, but his stomach was becoming worse. _Oh, shutup! _Shawn thought to himself miserably. There was no turning back now though. It was either keep walking towards the door or drop right now and have another mess for the maids to clean up. The latter though wasn't a nice one at all so Shawn kept moving

Arriving at the door made the young man very happy. He felt like he had ran a marathon though, cold sweat was shining on his face and his breathing was coming out in big puffs through his nose (since he was still clenching his jaw for the vomit). He leaned his hot forehead against the cool feeling door, breathing strongly. Shawn wouldn't be surprised if Jordan came out of the room now with the fireplace poker in hand, Shawn reminded himself of some sort of killer the way he was leaning against the door like he was.

Shawn twisted the doorknob, causing Jordan to look up from his work he was so caught up into.

"Shawn?" he questioned. Shawn acknowledged the fact that Jordan looked exactly the way he looked in his mental picture of him… before spilling his guts out in the wastebasket by the door.

After the vomiting turned into nothing but dry heaving, Shawn leaned his head against the wall to his left. Jordan had left the room and returned with a glass of water which he lightly coerced Shawn into drinking.

The older man helped Shawn onto the leather sofa in his office and placed a cool towel on his head.

"What possessed you to walk over here at this time of the night?" Jordan asked, with a slight smile. He was kneeling to the right of Shawn, as the young man tried to control his rasping breathing.

Shawn groaned and shut his eyes tightly.

"I don't know." He answered his voice hoarse. "I just wanted to see if you were still awake. You shouldn't be working so late."

"Thank you for caring, Shawn, but it's really you you should be thinking about." Jordan reprimanded calmly.

"I was growing frustrated at thinking about me." Shawn replied, his eyes closed, but still coherent.

Jordan smiled.

"I understand, for tonight you can sleep here." Jordan said. "But, I'm sorry to inform you that I still have a bit more work to finish here before being fully done."

"That's all right." Shawn said.

Jordan studied Shawn's face for a moment before speaking again.

"I met a Miss Liv today. She says she knows you?" Jordan asked.

This got Shawn's attention as he opened his eyes slightly (which was a big feat in itself).

"Yeah, she was the girl I helped, how is she? I haven't heard from her in awhile…" Shawn said.

"She's really good from what I can tell." Jordan paused. "I like her. She stood up for me today, called me a good man. I don't hear that much."

"You don't hear it enough," Shawn corrected. "You're a good man, Jordan. People know it but Liv is just a special girl who was cool enough to point it out to you."

Jordan smiled slightly; Shawn had a smooth way of flattering and scolding at the same time.

"Thank you," Jordan said, smoothing some of Shawn's hair off of his forehead and readjusting the towel.

"Anytime." Shawn replied before Jordan knew he had lost the young man to the ever-strong pull of sleep.

XxXXXxxXXXxX

A/N: Okay, there's chapter 3 for you! I hope you guys liked it! I might do a chapter four, but ideas are very helpful and I would thoroughly enjoy a lot of them, please and thank you! I'm off to watch my DVD set of the 4400 S2 now, bye!

P.S. - Sorry, Kennis. I didn't really want to do Danny and Maia in this chapter. Maybe next one… but most likely no (they're not my favorite characters…). I hope it's all right!

Have a nice day,

Sarah


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, I'm pretty much screwing up the storyline of the 4400 for the sake of the plotline, basically moving it in the future some with a few minor changed. **Here you go:** Matthew is alive, Isabelle is here, she's dated Shawn, but they broke up. Got it? Super.

Disclaimer: If I owned this show, Jordan and Shawn would have a lot more scenes. No, if I owned the show, Jordan and Shawn would be the show, lol.

_To Kennis, happy birthday!_

XxxXXXxxX

Jordan rolled over in his soft bed and opened his eyes blearily to the light that was flooding in to his bedroom. It was times like this, when he felt as tired as ever from a long night's work, that the man regretted his fondness for the sunshine. He checked the clock to side of him. When the time came into focus, he let out a small sigh. Now, if Jordan weren't the collected and suave businessman he was, but just a regular person, he would've panicked. He had just missed five _very big_ interviews in Matthew's words.

The man went at his usual, steady pace though. Rushing his mornings was a big no-no in his book, being late was a no-no as well but he knew the interview situation was hopeless so he might as well do his routine thing.

Jordan finished showering, grooming, and dressing then made his way out of the master bedroom with a newspaper in hand. He was starting on the second page of the paper when he heard voices coming from his office.

The man remembered that he had left Shawn there the night before when the young man started protesting about moving him. Who was in there with him now? Upon closer contact with the room, Jordan realized that it was a female voice.

He opened the door casually, spotting Shawn staring heatedly at some one hidden from Jordan's view. Shawn whipped his head around, lips pursed as they usually were when he was trying hard not to say something he shouldn't.

A girl stepped into sight; she had medium length, curly black hair. She had a long, dark face with pretty features and was wearing a wavy, light green dress that accented her skin and body nicely.

The unfamiliar girl walked up to Jordan and looked him over with a stern face.

"You're Jordan Collier." She said shortly. "I'm Isabelle."

Jordan eyes widened; this was definitely one of those rare moments that actually shocked the man. This girl was Isabelle? Surely she wasn't the same Isabelle that gave him the vision right before he died…

"Isabelle Tyler?" He asked.

"Yes."

"How are you- What's happened to you?" he managed to sputter. This moment was surreal. He was standing in the presence of an accomplice to his death. _She was right though, I didn't actually die… _

"I've had this conversation a million times already, Mr. Collier. I don't know how I got like this or what's happened. I just grew up over night, causing my mother's death." She explained a little exasperated. _Somebody should send out a memo so I won't have to tell my "side of the story" repeatedly._

"Wait, Lilly's dead?" That was news to him. Matthew must've planned it this way: For things to be told to him like this first hand. Jordan couldn't say if he appreciated the deed or not. Either way, this was all very shocking that the baby he believed was the future could be this full-grown woman.

"Yes, I just told you that." Isabelle pointed out, giving the man a confused look. She turned her attention back to Shawn. "I'm sorry, but I have to go to a meeting. We'll have to finish this another time, Shawn."

Shawn gave his attention back to Isabelle.

"There is nothing to talk about, Isabelle. You don't understand what I'm saying to you. We've broken up. I've told you this plenty of times all ready." Shawn said, irritated. All this arguing was making him feel sick, well, sicker then he already was.

"I don't believe you." Isabelle said snappishly, before exiting quickly. Her dress flowed in a flurry behind her.

Shawn looked after her in disbelief. That girl was going to be the death of him… He dropped his head to the armrest of the couch and stared up at Jordan. The man still had a calculating expression on his face, trying to wrap his head around the recent revelations.

"Are you-" Shawn started.

"Wait a second… You're dating her?" Jordan asked. Shawn rolled his eyes and started knocking his head against the soft armrest. It wasn't too great an idea as it just made him dizzy and increased his already bothersome headache.

"No. Do I have to tell you a million times too that we're broken up?" Shawn asked exasperatedly, eyes closed, trying to keep the dull throbbing in his head at a minimum.

"But you have dated her then?" Jordan asked after considering Shawn's answer.

Shawn sighed.

"Yes, and I regret it. Some advice from me: Never date a girl who has an IQ of a bazillion. She thinks way too hard and is veeery stubborn."

Jordan nodded, not entirely listening to the last part. He wanted to continue thinking on the Isabelle situation when the office phone next to the couch rang. The only person who knew the number was Matthew and Jordan was in no mood to talk to the lecturing-machine as he had so expertly nicknamed the man.

Shawn stared at the man who had a sort of blank stare on his face; he didn't look like he'd be answering the phone any time soon. The phone rang two times more and he sighed, reaching over and picking up the receiver.

"Hello?" Shawn asked, although he was fairly sure he knew who it was.

"Hi, Shawn, is Jordan there?" the voice of Matthew asked shortly, he was notably irritated.

"Ummm…" Shawn looked up at his mentor uncertainly. Jordan just shook his head. "He's busy. Should I take a message?"

He heard a sigh on the other end.

"Sure…" Matthew said, giving in. "Tell him that, although he's unfortunately missed five big interviews, I've set up a big press conference this afternoon at two at the park near Highland Beach. Everybody will be there. I'll have a limo ready and waiting outside. It is _imperative_ that he _does not_ miss it."

"Okay, got it." Shawn replied.

"I'll see you there as well." Matthew said quickly before hanging up.

Shawn heard dial tone and placed the receiver back on its hook. Jordan looked at him expectantly.

"There's some big press conference at two. 'Everybody's going to be there.'" Shawn finished in good impression of Matthew's snobbish tone. "Ugh, I have to go too…"

Jordan smiled slightly at Shawn's miserable expression. The young man looked even more endearing when he sulked.

"Well, we better get ready seeing as it's already noon." Jordan pointed to the small clock on his desk to reveal the said time. Shawn groaned.

"Yay, two more hours until we arrive in paparazzi hell." Shawn stated sarcastically.

Jordan called up some maids to help Shawn prepare for the day's events. They arrived promptly and helped Shawn brush up and outfit. The young man gave no complaints since he was feeling rather weak from fatigue and hunger. It always seemed to be one or the other but this time it was both. He never felt like actually eating since he just knew he would throw it up right afterwards though. He decided to steer clear of food as long as he could, meaning until Jordan found out and force-fed him.

Shawn now sat on the couch in the living room, flipping through the channels. He watched the news for a little while but switched to SpongeBob after figuring out that the stories only made him more depressed. His breakfast sat on a tray beside him. _It smells delicious… _Shawn thought miserably, reluctantly turning his attention back to the cartoon.

Jordan entered the room, going over some papers given to him that would help him answer the journalists' pressing questions. He spotted Shawn on the couch, his untouched meal sitting idly beside him.

"You're not going to eat that?" Jordan asked concern evident in his voice. It was starting to become obvious how much weight Shawn had lost with his illness. It worried Jordan if he had even got a decent meal down these days.

"Um, no. I'm really not that hungry." Shawn lied quickly, pushing the food away to convince the older man.

Jordan nodded slowly. He would let Shawn get away with it this time…

The young man turned back to the television and let out a small sigh of relief.

"You should turn that off, Shawn; we have to be down stairs early. We might as well go now." Jordan pointed out.

Shawn nodded, flipped the TV off and turned around to see something horrendous: Jordan was bringing in a wheelchair.

"No." Shawn stated.

Jordan looked up from trying to get the brakes on the mechanism to work.

"No what?"

"I'm not going to ride in that."

"You're not 'riding,' in it, Shawn. It's necessary. You and I know full well that you won't be able to walk around and stand _all_ evening. Have you forgotten how long these conferences can last?" Jordan pointed out.

"Ugh," Shawn said, collapsing backwards into some pillows. "This is why I didn't want to go in the first place."

Jordan looked up in exasperation.

"Shawn, you're acting childish again. Why don't you want to sit in it? It will help you."

Shawn sat back up with some difficulty.

"They make you look all sick and ailing."

"You are sick and ailing, Shawn."

Shawn was about protest at the reply but knew it would be futile, mostly because it was true and also because, well, this was Jordan he was talking to. The man never gave in.

The young man brooded as Jordan helped him into the chair.

"It's not permanent, Shawn." Jordan tried to reassure when he noticed the younger man sulking.

Shawn rested his head huffily in response. Not only was the evil chair a sign of weakness but it was also terribly uncomfortable.

Shawn continued to shift himself in various positions as Jordan collected his things and placed them in his briefcase.

"Hold this, will you?" Jordan said, handing Shawn his briefcase while he strapped on his expensive-looking watch. Shawn became very tempted to drop the leather case on the floor when Jordan began wheeling him out the door but somehow resisted the urge.

The heavy door closed with a snap and the two took the elevator downstairs.

XxxXXXxxX

The ride to the park was uneventful. Shawn grudgingly filled Jordan in on his and Isabelle's relationship. The man seemed particularly interested in her which was Shawn found a bit bizarre but shrugged off. _Jordan's just weird like that, I suppose…_

They arrived at the park shortly after their departure from the center. The very sight of the hoards of reporters made the both of them want to drive right back though. A year ago, Jordan would've been exceedingly pleased to see so many people interested in his "movement" but this was beginning to get very overwhelming.

"Well, we have to get out sometime." Jordan said finally, unbuckling his and Shawn's seatbelt. Much to Shawn's displeasure, they had taken a Hummer limo so they could fit Shawn's current traveling apparatus in it.

"Can't we just send in two clones of ourselves? I'd prefer my clone to have two good legs though, if that's all right."

Jordan smiled slightly at the young man's comment as the door to his limo opened.

"Here we go." Jordan said, stepping out of the vehicle and plastering a smile on his face. The hoard piled in on him, yelling waves of questions and flashing bombs of light at his face.

Jordan just continued walking, trying his hardest to calmly answer a few of the questions but mostly just trying to make it over to his safe zone in one piece.

It was Shawn's turn now. He slowly wheeled himself out of the limo, down the handicapped ramp into the prying eyes of the press.

They were like a cross between leeches and ravenous wolves. They tackled you then sucked every bit of information you held within. At least, that was Shawn's animalistic point of view.

They asked every and any question. Most were about his wheelchair and his relationship with Jordan but others about situations and topics he'd never even _heard_ of.

Shawn was sure most of the pictures taken of him were just bewildered and stunned expressions. He really didn't care though; he just wanted to get out of this place.

The young man put his hands on the two side wheels of his chair and pushed onward. Nothing happened. He checked if the breaks were on but looked up immediately when his chair started moving. He found that the chair wasn't mind-controlled as he had previously though but was being affected by a big, hulking man.

"Whoa." Shawn said, looking upwards at him. He gulped silently at the man's vast size. "Umm, dude, I think you got the wrong chair."

The man looked down, continuing to steer the chair away from the press, His sunglasses met Shawn's big, brown eyes.

"I am Raymond and I am your assigned bodyguard." The man replied in a slight Italian accent, looking straight ahead once again.

Shawn nodded slowly.

"I see. Well then, I guess I can take it from here. I'll be by those benches if you need me." Sawn said, trying hard to move his chair in the east direction by grabbing hold of the wheels once more. Raymond appeared to have the stronger hold though.

"No, I am sorry, but Mr. Collier said to keep a close eye on you." The man replied.

So this was Jordan's way of keeping an eye on him. Ugh, he'd rather have a camera attached to his head then deal with this guy!

Shawn rubbed the bridge of his nose. Another big headache was coming on and he was stuck here… This was not Shawn's day.

"So, what are we-" Shawn was interrupted mid-question by the leech-wolves. They attacked him with various more questions. Shawn just gave him his famous bewildered look before being rescued by Raymond once again.

"No more questions for Mr. Farrell." He yelled, moving his figure in front of the younger man. The paparazzi suited with throwing the questions at the bulky shield.

Shawn looked up at his bodyguard. The man had beads of sweat running down the sides of his face. His once cool, solid facial appearance looked panicked even with his sunglasses on. _This is my chance. _Shawn thought, grabbing a hold of the wheels once again. He slowly moved them backwards, trying his hardest to go unnoticed by the reporters and Raymond.

Miraculously, the young man made it to the parking lot without any rise of alarm. He hid himself behind a Channel 10 news van and decided to stay there until 8 o'clock when the conference ended. He checked his watch "3:15." It was going to be a long wait. Shawn snuck a glance back at the chaos he had left behind. Raymond was still fending off the reporters. Shawn assumed once the man figured out he was missing, there would be a lot of other security searching for him… _I definitely need a better hiding place. _Shawn realized, looking at his lame excuse for one behind the vehicle.

The young man checked the van's door handles. They were unlocked! Shawn glanced behind him for any suspicious onlookers, nobody. _They all must be too busy trying to attack Jordan. _He opened the doors slowly and peaked inside for any occupants. To his surprise, there was a young man, maybe a little younger than him, sitting on a piece of media equipment. He had a tattered notebook in his lap and a bag of McDonalds at his feet. The two gave each other surprised looks before the other young man spoke:

"Y-you're Shawn Farrell! Oh my god, this is my dream come true!" he said, an excited smile replacing his previously shocked features. Shawn became taken aback. _Oh great, the one cramped van I decide to sneak into and there's a fag inside. I was better off with Raymond…_ "Wait, let me explain, let me explain. Um, I'm Josh McAllister and I'm like your biggest fan. I'm not gay or anything, I just-"

"I'm sorry, Josh, but I really need a place to hide; do you mind holding that though and giving me a hand here?" Shawn asked, interrupting the young man's speech.

"Sure, of course." Josh replied, setting his notebook to the side and helping Shawn out of his wheelchair and into the van. "What do you want me to do with you chair?" Josh asked after Shawn had settled on the floor of the van.

"Um, just leave it there. I'll get it later."

"Okaaay." Josh replied uncertainly, closing the van doors shut. He flipped on the lights in the back and stared at Shawn. "So, why are you running away from all the news people?"

Shawn gave him an uncomfortable look. Could he really trust this guy?

"First of all," Shawn began. "I'm not 'running away' per se. I'm merely… avoiding subtly."

"I see." Josh replied.

"And second, why are _you_ in the back of this van?" Shawn asked.

"My mom's a reporter for the Channel Ten news. She doesn't exactly know I'm here. I was sort of hiding out in hopes of meeting you." Josh said, his tone growing brighter near the end of the sentence. "I still can't believe my luck!"

"Neither can I," Shawn mumbled.

"Anyways, since you are here, do you mind if I ask you a few questions? I know you probably don't want to hear anymore but I _really_ need these."

"What do you need them for?" Shawn asked curiously.

"My school paper. Ms. Harrison's class is torture so I have to make all my papers extra good. This report's about my role model, being you. So you can imagine my enthusiasm."

Shawn nodded, slightly flattered.

"What questions did you have in mind?" Shawn inquired, a small smile on his face.

"Great." Josh said happily, picking up his notebook and flipping through some pages. He landed on one with a small list of questions. He plucked his pencil out from the spine of the pad and got ready to write. "Okay, so, first question: Have you dated any supermodels in the past month?"

"Um, er, excuse me?" Shawn sputtered.

"Have you dated any supermodels?"

"No. No, I haven't." Shawn answered, still finding the question bizarre.

"Oh," Josh said a little disappointed. He scribbled Shawn's answer below the question. "What about that hot, dark-skinned girl I saw you with in UsWeekly?" Josh asked.

"You mean Isabelle?" Shawn said incredulously. This was beginning to get creepy.

"'Isabelle…' that sounds Brazilian." Josh pondered.

"Isabelle isn't a supermodel." Shawn corrected. "She's just, well, Isabelle."

"Are you dating her anymore?" Josh asked suddenly.

"Umm, no."

"What happened? It couldn't be anything over money so what was it?"

Shawn thought for a moment.

"It's complicated, okay? She's not exactly your regular girlfriend."

Josh nodded knowingly.

"You mean, really stubborn and naïve?"

Shawn looked up.

"Yeah, that's right."

"That's every girlfriend, dude."

Shawn smiled but winced as a sharp pain went through his head.

"Do you mind if we just take a break from the questions for awhile? I've got a bad headache."

"Sure, I noticed you weren't looking too hot. I'll check up front for some aspirins."

"Thanks." Shawn replied, closing his eyes and rubbing his temple.

Josh went in the front and returned shortly after.

"I found some aspirins and some cards. Do you want to play poker?"

Shawn opened his eyes and gave Josh a confused look.

"What are we going to bet with?" Shawn asked.

"Umm, ah, I know!" He went into the front again and returned with a large box of Q-Tips. "Mom always keeps plenty of these in here. Likes to have clean ears before going on camera, I don't know…"

They set up the game and allotted out the Q-tips.

A half hour later, Shawn's pile had gotten very high. His fortunate streak while playing made his time stuck in the cramped van a lot more enjoyable.

"Okay, show them." Josh said after calling a rather large bet of Shawn's.

"Flush." Shawn revealed with a smile, placing his cards on the floor of the vehicle.

"Oh, crap!" Josh said with a smile, dropping his crappy hand onto the floor.

"You called my bet with a pair of eights?" Shawn laughed when he found out his opponents hand.

"I thought you were bluffing." Josh shrugged, gathering up the tossed cards on the floor. He sat back and organized them into a neat pile. "I don't know about you but I am hungry."

Shawn nodded in agreement. "How are we going to get food though?" he asked.

"They usually have some buffet table, don't they?"

"Yeah, but I don't know where it is."

"I'm sure I can find it," Josh replied, getting up and opening the back door. The sky revealed that it was beginning to be evening now. Josh stepped out of the van and into the outside air. "I'll be back soon. Hope I don't run into my mom while I'm out here."

Shawn smiled after him when he shut the door. This was kind of cool. He hadn't felt this normal in a long time. Josh was a cool guy once you got past his crazed fan exterior. Shawn took some more aspirins as he felt another headache coming on. He laid back his head to rest on the cushioned wall of the van and dozed off.

XxxXXXxxX

"How did you manage to lose Shawn? He's in a wheelchair for crying out loud." Jordan said incredulously to the dejected bodyguard. It had been almost an hour since Shawn's disappearance and they hadn't turned up with anything on the young man. The three men, Jordan, Raymond, and Matthew) were behind the stage wall, discussing the unfortunate results.

"I am sorry, Mr. Collier. The reporters were bombarding me and I didn't see he had left." Raymond replied.

Collier sighed and rubbed his forehead.

"We're doing everything we can to locate him, Jordan. We'll find Shawn soon, you don't have to worry." Matthew reassured.

A middle-aged woman stepped in.

"Mr. Collier you'll be going on in twenty minutes. Makeup is in ten." She reported to the disheartened older man.

"Okay, thank you, Lisa." Matthew nodded. He turned his attention back to Jordan about to speak.

"We also have a little incident with the buffet table though." Lisa interrupted suddenly. Matthew turned around. "There was a boy there, stealing a large amount of food. It was strange since he didn't have any friends with him."

"Bring him in then," Matthew said exasperatedly. He was the one who had to deal with the social affairs, make sure things went smoothly.

Lisa exited and came back with a young man in a red hoodie and a blue backpack that was half-unzipped.

His eyes brightened at the sight of Jordan.

"Oh my god, you're Jordan Collier!" Josh said walking closer to the older man. Jordan removed the hand that he was using to nurse his head and looked up at the young man.

"Yes, he is, and who are you?" Matthew said pretentiously.

"Um, I'm Josh McAllister." He stuttered. He knew he must be in some deep trouble to actually be in the presence of Jordan. He didn't care though; this would be an awesome story to tell his friends!

"McAllister…." Matthew pondered. "You wouldn't happen to be Karen McAllister's son, the reporter from Channel Ten news?"

"Yeah, that's my mom." Josh replied, still casting esteemed glances at Jordan. "Wait, but she doesn't know I'm here. She can't know I was taking this food though."

Matthew sighed.

"Why did you take it then? You're mother has money she should be able to buy you a decent meal."

"Well, I sort of… have a friend… who was hungry, and, um…" Josh fumbled with his words.

"Okay, well, you're obviously lying." Matthew concluded bluntly. "Find his mother and make sure he stays out of trouble." He instructed Lisa.

"No, wait, wait. If you don't tell my mother I'm here, I think I can help you with something you're working on." Josh said. Matthew raised his eyebrows.

"What makes you think you know _anything_ about our dealings?" Matthew asked.

"Well, I know you're looking for some one." Josh disclosed, catching the attention of all three men present.

"Go on," Jordan prodded.

"You have to promise you won't tell my mom I'm here. This is just the best moment of my life and it would really suck if my mom knew that I-"

"Yes, yes, fine!" Matthew interrupted all too impatiently. "Just tell us where Shawn Farrell is and we'll even throw in a free book."

Josh nodded with a smile.

"Follow me."

Jordan got up from his seat at a picnic table but was suddenly stopped by Matthew.

"Jordan, I think you're needed in the makeup and briefing department." He said, gesturing the small crowd of people armed with makeup and files to his right.

Jordan gave the other man a firm stare.

"Once all of this is done and over with, I want to speak to Shawn immediately." Jordan said decisively.

Matthew nodded.

"I'll make sure of it."

Jordan reluctantly walked over to the crowd while Matthew nodded his head in the direction of the exit. Josh led them all the way to the parking lot where the news van was parked.

"He's in the back of there." Josh said, pointing to the Channel Ten news van. "Can you guys not tell Shawn I ratted him out?"

Matthew smiled in a way that made Josh uncomfortable.

"Sure, just stand over there and you can go back in once we get Shawn." Matthew instructed, jerking his head over at another van. Josh followed the instructions and hid himself from view behind the vehicle. _I hope I didn't get Shawn in too much trouble…_

Matthew and Raymond made their way over to the news van. Upon spotting the wheelchair in front of the trunk, Matthew let out a small curse.

"This," He said, kicking the chair. "Wasn't clue enough that he was inside this van? What kind of people did you have looking for him anyway? Blind hobos?"

Raymond dropped his head ruefully.

Matthew sighed and opened the doors, allowing the evening light to flood the cars dark interior.

"God, Josh, you've been gone forever." Shawn said, rubbing his eyes and lifting his head from the wall of the vehicle. When he spotted Matthew and Raymond in place of his ally, his first instinct was to run, but since that was totally out of the question once Shawn spotted the wheelchair now a few feet away, he suited with a different approach. "I mean, um, I'm so glad you guys found me. I thought the kidnappers had forgotten about me for sure."

Matthew rolled his eyes and Raymond let out a small snort.

"Shawn, we know you escaped and you've been hiding out in this van with another young man for the past hour. There's no use in lying." Matthew said dismally. "It doesn't really bother me that you chose to act this way, but Jordan, on the other hand, is quite displeased. He wishes to speak with you after the conference."

Shawn shook his head remorsefully. _Stupid, stupid. _He had never meant for Jordan to actually figure out that he'd run off but, thinking about it now, Shawn couldn't deduce how he wouldn't. _Stupid, stupid._

"C'mon, we have to go." Matthew said. Raymond came up with Shawn's wheelchair and helped him in. Matthew pushed him the rest of the way to the conference for distrusting reasons toward the bodyguard.

Shawn was parked at a VIP table near the front of the stage. There were many chairs in the center of the field where a large number of reporters and cameramen were assigned to. Some snuck some pictures of Shawn sitting at the table and some called out questions to him. They gave up after ten minutes when he wouldn't answer them though.

Shawn turned back around from staring and laid his head on his arm looking completely despondent. He looked up when a woman in blue walked on stage, bringing everybody else's attention on her as well.

"Hello and welcome to Highland Park's first ever press conference. It brings me great pleasure to introduce to you Seattle's Man of the Year, Mr. Jordan Collier. "

Some clapped but most snapped pictures of the man's entering. Jordan kept a slight smile on his face the whole way up to the podium, nodding occasionally at unknowns.

"Hello and welcome. I'm here to answer your questions so let's begin, shall we?"

A half-second later, a flood of questions were sent his way. Jordan would point casually to a reporter, listen attentively to the inquiry, give a concise and clear answer, and then proceed onto a new one. He worked like a well-oiled machine, following all the rules of the book that Matthew always tried to drill into Shawn's head.

Shawn zoned in and out of the seminar, partly because Shawn didn't know why he had to come in the first place but mostly because his mind was too preoccupied with what Jordan would do to him once he exited the stage.

_It was only for an hour, he couldn't be _boiling_ angry. _Shawn reasoned a little doubtfully.Shawn looked up on the stage at the older man but became exceedingly paranoid when he imagined him glaring at him, it wasn't a nice fancy. Shawn quietly downed glasses of water, meditating on the subject.

XxxXXXxxX

The conference was over and Jordan looked exhausted after saying his farewells to the herds of press and exiting the stage floor. Shawn, on the other hand, was very much awake partly with anxiousness and partly because he had to use the restroom.

Jordan walked off the stage and walked over to the table where he saw Shawn with a strained look on his face. He quirked an eyebrow at him as he loosened his tie.

The man sat himself down in one of the off-white chair at the table, causing Shawn to look up at him.

"Do you have anything to say?" Jordan asked quietly. He was still slightly paranoid about people overhearing his conversation with so much press around.

"I really have to use the bathroom." Shawn said quickly, biting his bottom lip.

Jordan sighed.

"Shawn, just forget about your bladder for a moment and think more on the subject of your running away. Do you have anything you'd like to say about that?"

Shawn thought for a moment. He had a lot of things to say actually.

"I'm sorry…" Shawn began. "That you assigned me a creepy and overbearing bodyguard like Raymond. Seriously, Jordan, I got some big mafia-bossing vibes from that guy. Picking security is not your forte."

Jordan sighed and rubbed his eyebrow. This is not how he envisioned the conversation going. Time to do it the other way.

"Shawn, it was wrong to escape the bodyguard. I put one with you because I didn't want anything bad to happen to you. I didn't give you one to see how well you could escape it, which, by the way, you did a pretty good job at." Jordan smirked. "I got really worried though. You shouldn't do that because it fills a person's head with all sorts of possibilities."

"I was just in the news van in the parking lot though." Shawn defended.

"Shawn, if I knew that I wouldn't have worried so much, would I?"

Shawn stayed silent and looked down at his glass of water.

"Come on; let's go home so you can go to the bathroom. The ones here are unsanitary."

XxxXXXxxX

The ride back to the center was almost completely silent. When they arrived back, Shawn relieved himself in his old suite since he wasn't supposed to be sharing a suite with Jordan anyway. The man was worried that the weird places Shawn was choosing to sleep on in the room these last days would be much bad for his back. Thus, Shawn complied with going back to his old space.

When Shawn got out of the bathroom, he was met with three trays filled with various kinds of food. He wheeled himself over to the low living room table and read a note that was placed on top of it.

_Half of this better be gone when the maids come in to clean it up._

_PS: Don't throw it away either._

Shawn rolled his eyes and smiled slightly. He got out of his wheelchair and sat himself on the couch, picking up a plate of fruit and yogurt along with him. He flipped on the TV and watched horror films the rest of the night while he tried to get most of the food down his throat. The young man dozed of to sleep mid-Ring 2 after stuffing his face for two hours straight.

Jordan better get me a physical trainer after this. Shawn thought amusedly, slowly closing his eyes and laying his had on the couch.

XxxXXXxxX

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you," Shawn opened his eyes blearily to the familiar song. He was surprised to see Jordan walking over to him, video camera and lit cake in hand.

"Jordan, what are you doing?"

"I'm recording a special moment with this amazing device called a video camera." Jordan said, enunciating the last part like he was an ignorant old-timer.

Shawn began to roll his eyes but stopped half way when he realized the special moment was his birthday.

"Wait, it's my birthday?" Shawn asked, looking up at the older man who still had the recording camera steadily in hand.

Jordan nodded. "July 29th, 2006 (A/N: I know his actual birthday is December 12 but it wasn't cold enough outside plus this date is very special. winks)"

Shawn looked stunned.

"Wow, I'd totally forgotten, I hadn't looked at the date in a while. I- Hey, stop recording all of this, it's embarrassing." Shawn said, realizing that Jordan was still holding a camera and trying to hide a grin.

"Not until you blow out the candle." Jordan said, handing the young man the lit chocolate cake.

Shawn rolled his eyes and blew out the candle, causing Jordan to press the red button on the device.

"Was that so hard?" Jordan asked, placing the camera on the side table and sitting on the couch. He adjusted himself uncomfortably on the cushions. "Why did you sleep on this anyway? I thought I sent you back here because you kept sleeping on odd objects in my suite. Now you're back and you sleep on this. True, it can't possibly be as uncomfortable as my office couch, but, need I remind you, you do have a bed."

Shawn smiled at the older man's rant.

"It's all right." He paused and the two enjoyed a comfortable silence. Shawn decided to bring up the topic from yesterday since he was feeling guilty. He took a deep breath.

"So you're not mad about yesterday?" Shawn asked, looking up at Jordan.

Jordan turned to him.

"A little mad," Jordan said. Shawn looked down again. "But then I realized that I'd probably do the same thing if I had the chance, so, no, not any more."

Shawn sighed in relief. He didn't know how much he cared about the other man's opinion.

"So… What did you get me?" Shawn said a smile growing on his face. "It is my birthday."

"You just learned that a few moments ago and you're already asking for a gift?" Jordan asked, laughing a little.

Shawn stared at him.

"Okay, okay," Jordan said in mock exasperation, pulling out some ticket-looking articles from his dark coat and handing them to the young man.

Shawn studied them. They were tickets to Six Flags, but it said that he had the whole park to himself for one day. The young man stared at the papers for a long time, trying to wrap his mind around the gift. He was in love with the theme park, but one thing he hated were the long, hot lines he had to deal with last time he went there with his brother Danny.

"So, I get… the whole park to myself for one whole day?" Shawn affirmed slowly.

Jordan nodded, smiling at the young man's reaction.

"How the heck did you do this, Jordan?" Shawn asked, shaking his head like the man was a ticket god.

"When you're the first man to resurrect after about 2,000 years, people will basically give you anything."

Shawn couldn't get the smile off his face.

"You're coming too, right?" Shawn asked, looking up hopefully at the older man.

Jordan gave a doubtful expression but slowly changed it to a small smile.

"Yes, but _you're_ not going until you get better." Jordan instructed firmly.

Shawn hugged the older man, surprising Jordan. He returned it warmly, the small smile still on his face.

"Happy Birthday, Shawn," Jordan said, hugging Shawn tighter.

A/N: There you go. I'm not going to bother saying "This is definitely the last chapter" because I can't even predict that anymore, lol. Thanks so much for reading, please don't forget to review! All will be placed in my special jar and treasured forever.


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